Air Force Staff Sgt. Dustin W. Peters

Died July 11, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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25, of El Dorado, Kan.; assigned to the 314th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.; killed July 11 by enemy action near Forward Operating Base Summerall, Iraq.

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Kansas airman killed in Iraq

By John Milburn

Associated Press

A Little Rock Air Force Base airman from Kansas who was killed in Iraq while riding in a convoy was scheduled to come home in less than a month.

Staff Sgt. Dustin W. Peters was scheduled to come home Aug. 3, 18 days before his 26th birthday.

His mother, Linda Benning, said Tuesday that her son was proud of his service in the Air Force and wanted to make it his career.

“I asked him if he was scared, and he said ‘I just try to help the people who are scared,”’ his mother said in a telephone interview from her home in Shirley, Ark., about 60 miles north of Little Rock.

Peters, 25, of El Dorado, Kan., died Sunday morning when the convoy in which he was traveling was hit by a homemade bomb, officials at the Little Rock Air Force Base said in a statement.

Benning said she spoke with her son on July 4 and talked about his upcoming return. Her last contact was an e-mail from Iraq dated July 8.

Peters had been at the base almost four years and left for a 179-day deployment to the Middle East in February. It was his fourth deployment since arriving at the base Nov. 28, 2000, and his second tour in Iraq.

“We lost a valuable member of the Little Rock Air Force Base team and our Air Force family,” said Col. Joseph Reheiser, commander of the 314th Airlift Wing. “Sgt. Peters will be missed, but his dedication and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

Staff Sgt. Jeremy Hamack, stationed at the base, told KARK-TV in Little Rock, “Anybody who met him, he was their best friend — always there for you, cared more about you than himself — most dedicated friend I’ve had.”

Peters was assigned to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing and was attached to the Army’s 494th Truck Company at Balad Air Base, Iraq. He was the first Air Force casualty in Iraq since March.

Benning said her son loved his job in the Air Force. His commanding officer had told her that Peters was a “very serious-minded person.”

“He knew the dangers of his job. He did everything that he was supposed to. He was a credit to the military and himself,” Benning said.

Peters is survived by his mother, a sister and a 4-year-old son by his former wife in Wichita, Kan.

Peters attended El Dorado High School from 1992-93, then transferred to Arkansas, an official with the El Dorado school district said.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius issued a statement Tuesday expressing sympathy to Peters’ family.

“As a mother, my heart breaks that another young Kansas soldier has lost his life,” Sebelius said. “I urge all Kansans to keep the 5,000 soldiers still in harm’s way in our thoughts and prayers.”

Peters graduated from Shirley High School in 1996 and joined the Air Force on Jan. 29, 1997, his mother said. After completing basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, he attended technical training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and graduated as a vehicle operator journeyman.

He had assignments at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., and Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, before arriving at Little Rock Air Force Base. While there, he served as a noncommissioned officer in charge of equipment support for the 314th Logistics Readiness Squadron.

His military decorations include the Air Force Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and with Valor, and an Air Force Achievement Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster.

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Family mourns airman killed in Iraq

ENID, Okla. — Shirley Lehman was looking forward to her grandson’s return in about three weeks from military duty in Iraq.

But a knock on her door from Air Force personnel over the weekend turned an anticipated joyous reunion into one of sorrow.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Dustin W. Peters, 25, was killed Sunday when his convoy was hit by a homemade bomb about 155 miles north of Baghdad, officials at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas said in a statement.

Peters, of El Dorado, Kan., was assigned to the 314th Logistics Readiness Squadron.

“It’s been such a shock,” said Lehman, who lives in the Enid area along with Peters’ father, Dennis Peters, and other relatives.

Lehman said her grandson called last week to say he’d be bringing his young son to visit the family when the airman came home on leave Aug. 3.

Dennis Peters said his son was looking forward to a military career.

“He worked very, very hard,” Peters told the Enid News & Eagle. “He was just a great leader.”

Dustin Peters entered the Air Force in January 1997, completing basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and technical training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

He was assigned to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing and attached to the U.S. Army’s 494th Truck Company at Balad Air Base in Iraq.

“We lost a valuable member of the Little Rock Air Force Base team and our Air Force family,” Col. Joseph Reheiser, 314th Airlift Wing commander, said in a statement. “Sgt. Peters will be missed, but his dedication and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

Dustin Peters was decorated with the Air Force Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and with Valor, and an Air Force Achievement Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster.

Lehman worried about Peters’ safety, who was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq and had been to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan during his service.

“There were times when I asked him to get out (of the military),” she said. “He was just so dedicated.”

_ Associated Press

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Slain airman’s son accepts medals on father’s behalf

JACKSONVILLE, Ark. — Air Force Staff Sgt. Dustin W. Peters was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart on Thursday during a private memorial service at Little Rock Air Force Base.

Officials said the medals were presented to Peters’ young son. Base spokesman Lt. Jon Quinlan said about 350 people, including Peters’ family and members of his squadron, crowded the base chapel.

Peters, 25, was the first airman from the Little Rock Air Force Base to be killed in Iraq. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Quinlan said overflow mourners watched a broadcast of Thursday’s memorial from the base conference center, and the broadcast also was played on all base televisions.

Peters was killed Sunday when his convoy was hit by multiple homemade bombs. A citation accompanying the medals says he was manning a gun truck that took the full blast of one explosion, and he was killed instantly.

“Sergeant Peters gave his life fighting for and defending the people of Iraq. By his heroic actions and unselfish dedication to duty in the service of his country, Sergeant Peters has reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force,” the citation said.

Peters, of El Dorado, Kan., entered the Air Force in January 1997, completing basic training at Lackland Air Force Base and technical training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

He was assigned to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing and attached to the U.S. Army’s 494th Truck Company at Balad Air Base in Iraq. He deployed to the Middle East in February for a 179-day tour, his second.

— Associated Press